Air washer and humidifier



March 6, 1934. w. w. WILLIAMS AIR WASHER AND HUMIDIFIER Filed March 25,1933 l lllllllfi t llllulu |..lv||\u aesriaae E INVENTOR. WALTER W.W/LL/fl/VS BY k A TTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 6, 1934 ,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR WASHER ANDHUMIDIFIER. Walter w. Williams, Bloomington, m. Application March 25,1933, Serial No. 662,712 2 Claims. (Cl. 261-29) This invention relatesto improvements in domestic hot air heating systems and moreparticularly to a system of this type in which the air is washed andhumidified before it is. heated and distributed.

-It is an object of this invention to provide a means in a domestic hotair heating system in which the air is circulated through the rooms tobe heated and after theheat has been dis- LO sipated, to return thecooler air to the heater whereby the cooled air is washed and humidifiedbefore being again heated and recirculated.

With these and other objects in view, refer- 1 ence is made to theaccompanying sheet of drawing which illustrates a preferred "form'ofthisinvention, with the understanding that minor- The combined air washer,humidifier and heater includes preferably a rectangular casing 1, thelower portion of which provides a water storage tank 2 and an upperclosure 3 communicating with the hot air distribution ducts 4 of theheating system.

A motor M is mounted in the vertical axis of the upper portion of thecasing 1 upon hangers 5 resting upon suitable supports attached to theinterior of the upper portion of the casing. A

centrifugal pump P is mounted below the motor M in the water tankcompartment upon hangers 6 engaging the hangers 5. The motor M isprovided with a casing 7 surrounding its sides and top and is mountedwith its driving shaft 8 in the vertical axis of the casing andconnected with the rotor of the pump P. A centrifugal fan 9 preferablyof the multiblade type having spaced apart vertical blades and an upperclosure plate 10 is mounted on the motor shaft 8 adjacent the motor andwithin the hangers 6 of the pump P. The d'scharge side of the pump P isconnected by the v rtical pipe 11 to connect with the interior of ahorizontal hollow'ring 12 positioned within th hangers 6 and adjacentthe underside of the fan 9 which ring 12 is provided with a plurality ofvertical discharge pipes 13 extending thereabovewithin the blades 5 ofthe fan 9, adjacent thereto, and terminating adjacent the cover plate.10, which pipes 13 are each provided with discharge orifices in thedirection of the fan blades and cover plate 10.

The upper portion of the casing above vthe 5 5 horizontal ring 12 isprovided with a. water c01- lecting and heating chamber 14 spaced apartfrom the walls of the casing and communicating at its upper end with adistributing chamber 15 which in turn communicates to the hot air ducts4 of the heating system. The bottom 14*- of the chamber is provided witha central orifice .surrounding the lower end of the fan 9 preferablysecured upon the outer sides of the pump hangers 6 which bottom slopestoward the bottom of the side walls of the chamber 14 and is pro videdwith a plurality of. discharge orifices 14 adjacent said walls. Aheating coil 16 is located within the chamber 14 spaced apart from itsbottom and preferably surrounding the motor, as shown. The upperconvolution of the coil 16'is preferably connected by the pipe 1'7 to asource of hot water or steam, the entrance of which into the coil iscontrolled by the valve 18 while the lower convolution of the coil 16 1is connected by the pipe 19 to return the water 76 or steam to thesource. I

The walls of the casing 1 are provided with a plurality of air intakeopenings 20 preferably extending in both a vertical and horizontaldirection admitting air to the space between ,the cas- 80 ing and wallsof the chamber 14 and also preferably for a slight distance therebelow.A continuous chamber is formed about the intake openings 20 by thecasing 21 secured to the exterior of the casing 1 which chambercommunicates with the vreturn air ducts 22 of the heating system. Whilethe heating ducts 22 are shown as entering the chamber formed by thecasing 21 on one side only, the ducts may be connected where mostconvenient or most desirable. 00

The operation of the device is as follows: Valve 18 admits a heatingmedium such as steam or hot water to circulate through the heating coil16 and the motor circuit is closed and the motor which is adapted to beconnected to the com- 06 mercial electric lighting system is started;tooperate by closing the said circuit. Thereafter the fan 9 and pump 10will simultaneously operate to force water from the tank 2 in the formof a spray through the discharge openings in pipes 13 causing the sprayto pass between the rotating blades of the fan 9 which at the same timedraws air from the chamber formed by the easing 21 through the openings20 and central openings in the bottom of the heating and cooling chamber14 which passes through the blades 9 with the water spray. The sprayedwater collects in the'bottom and passes through the ori fice 14 in theform of a thin ter wall in. returning to the water tank so that the airdrawn no by the fan from the air return ducts 22 is caused to passthrough this descending water wall and is washed thereby, removing alldust or other impurities. The air discharged by the fan through thewater spray is humidified before it is forced upward over the heatingcoil 16 so that the air entering the collecting chamber 15-is firstwashed, humidified, and then heated before it is distributed through theducts 4 to the various rooms to be heated.

In a device of this character, the washing of the air results in thebottom of the water tank becoming coated with an accumulation of theimpurities washed from the air and, if desired, the water tank may beautomatically flushed and the water replaced in the manner disclosed inthis applicant's prior application Serial No. 666,- 817, filed February15, 1933, and as this forms no part of this particular invention, it isthought only necessary to state that the pipe 23 is an overflow pipe forthe water tank 2 which leads into a discharge pipe 24 and the float 25actuates the float operated valve 28 in the bottom of the water tank 2opening into the discharge pipe 24 for automatically flushing the tank.

What I claim is:

1. In a domestic circulating hot air heating system, a casing, acollecting and heating chamber spaced apart from the walls of the casingsecured in the upper portion thereof communieating with the hot airducts of the system, a

0 water tank formed by the bottom walls of the casing, a return airchamber surrounding'the casing, said casing provided with a plurality ofair inlet apertures in the walls thereof within the air return chamber,said air return chamber communicating with the air return ducts of thesystem, an electric motor mounted in the upper portion of the collectingand heating chamber, a centrifugal fan mounted upon the driving shaft ofthe motor within the chamber, a centrifugal pump within the water tankadapted to be operated by the motor to discharge water in the form of aspray through the centrifugal fan, the bottom of said chamber having a.plurality of discharge orifices about its periphery and a centralopening under the fan whereby operation of the motor sprays waterthrough the fan into the chamber which collects in the bottom and passestherethrough in the form of a wall of 'water and air drawn by the fanfrom the air return chamber iswashed in passing through the water walland is humidified in passing through the fan blower in association with'the water spray, and means within the chamber for heatin he air passedtherethrough by the fan.

2. In a domestic circulating hot air heating system, a casing, acollecting and heating chamber' spaced apart from the walls of thecasing secured in the upper portionthereof communieating with the hotair ducts of the system, a

water tank formed by the bottom walls of the casing, a return airchamber surrounding the casing, said casing provided with a plurality ofair inlet apertures in the walls thereof within the air return chamber,said air return chamber communicating with the air return ducts of thesystem, an electric motor mounted in the upper portion of the collectingand heating chamber, a centrifugal fan mounted upon the driving shaft ofthe motor within the chamber, a centrifugal pump within the water tankadapted to be operated by the motor to discharge water in the form of aspraythrough the centrifugal fan, the bottom of said chamber having aplurality of discharge orifices about its periphery and a centralopening under the fan whereby operation of the motor sprays waterthrough the fan into the chamber which collects in the bottom' andpasses therethrough in the form of a wall of water and air drawn by thefan from the air return chamber is washed in passing through the waterwall and ishumidifled in passing through the fan blower in associationwith the water spray, and means within the chamber for heating the airpassed therethrough by the fan, including a coil of pipe within thechamber and about the motor connected with a heating medium forcirculating a heated fluid through said coil.

WALTER W. WILLIAMS.

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